Surely the festival would be good for local businesses or am I missing something here?

It would be for every other town in the country, but not for New Ross though.

A lot of the business people who have been around the town for decades seem to think they own the place, and the town council are the biggest farce in the country run by incompetent stooges. So when you have a combo like that then the town is guaranteed to be going backwards. In my opinion the docks is the best business in town. Run by a good management with great staff. The crowds they get each week is proof of that. When the town council decided to piss money down the drain, and cancel the one thing that brought people into the town, the docks took their own initiative in trying to do something fun for the people of the town, and even pumped in their own money into it. It's a spit in the face for them, and if I was Mark Dunne I wouldn't take this lying down. I'd push to keep the festival going ahead, and screw these arseholes who are trying to ruin the town.

It could be the John Street traders or indeed the organisers of the cancelled festival , who may be afraid that this would turn into an annual event and out-do the much renowned JFK Dunbrody Festival .

It could be the John Street traders or indeed the organisers of the cancelled festival , who may be afraid that this would turn into an annual event and out-do the much renowned JFK Dunbrody Festival .

There should be no speculation, these people should be named and shamed. They are nothing but saboteurs. This is when you need the Town Council to step in and show some leadership, but sadly they can't even spell leadership let alone show it. The only thing they were good for was issuing people who parked their car in the town with fines, then wasted it. The only decent business in town has been screwed out of €10,000. I'm not happy with The Docks that they haven't printed and exposed these saboteurs who have ruined their festival. But maybe if someone in the Docks had been on the elite no good for nothing Town Council the festival would be going ahead. Certain special business's in Ross tend to be looked after by their cronies in the town council, so I doubt they'll intervene.

Its not the Johns Street traders either. I spoke to a few of them and apparently the Guards rang around last week asking if The Docks had spoken to any of them about the concert. Turns out they hadn't but it wasn't an issue for them really. A good few of them had tickets for it too!! Then a local business person turned up asking a few of them had they any concerns about parking,broken windows etc. I suppose they had but no more than any normal weekend. I think there was some concerns written down to be given to the guys in The Docks but nothing unreasonable just stuff like if there was anything broken who would pay for repairs. Then the guys from The Docks called around to the traders at the end of last week and chatted with them all individually about any concerns they had. That was great no problem it went well. Then front page of The Standard Tuesday morning had that it was cancelled!!!
The John Street traders as well as other local businesses were shocked. Whatever happened over the weekend must have been serious enough for them to have to move the event indoors. I heard a rumor about a solicitor letter but from whom I don't know and what it contained is even more of a mystery?!

Its not the Johns Street traders either. I spoke to a few of them and apparently the Guards rang around last week asking if The Docks had spoken to any of them about the concert. Turns out they hadn't but it wasn't an issue for them really. A good few of them had tickets for it too!! Then a local business person turned up asking a few of them had they any concerns about parking,broken windows etc. I suppose they had but no more than any normal weekend. I think there was some concerns written down to be given to the guys in The Docks but nothing unreasonable just stuff like if there was anything broken who would pay for repairs. Then the guys from The Docks called around to the traders at the end of last week and chatted with them all individually about any concerns they had. That was great no problem it went well. Then front page of The Standard Tuesday morning had that it was cancelled!!!
The John Street traders as well as other local businesses were shocked. Whatever happened over the weekend must have been serious enough for them to have to move the event indoors. I heard a rumor about a solicitor letter but from whom I don't know and what it contained is even more of a mystery?!

Its not the Johns Street traders either. I spoke to a few of them and apparently the Guards rang around last week asking if The Docks had spoken to any of them about the concert. Turns out they hadn't but it wasn't an issue for them really. A good few of them had tickets for it too!! Then a local business person turned up asking a few of them had they any concerns about parking,broken windows etc. I suppose they had but no more than any normal weekend. I think there was some concerns written down to be given to the guys in The Docks but nothing unreasonable just stuff like if there was anything broken who would pay for repairs. Then the guys from The Docks called around to the traders at the end of last week and chatted with them all individually about any concerns they had. That was great no problem it went well. Then front page of The Standard Tuesday morning had that it was cancelled!!!
The John Street traders as well as other local businesses were shocked. Whatever happened over the weekend must have been serious enough for them to have to move the event indoors. I heard a rumor about a solicitor letter but from whom I don't know and what it contained is even more of a mystery?!

What you said makes no sense to me whatsoever. Mark Dunne said it was a deliberate and sustained effort by local business's. So cleary someone has be trying to sabotage this festival since it was first annouced. Lets go through the traders that are located in Johns Street shall we.

There's Walsh Pratice which is always closed off by large gates at closing time. So they should really have no objections, or worries about damage to their property.

There's the little shop beside it. Would they have reason to object? I doubt it, because they'd stand to gain the most by having such a festival.

Then there's Eyecatchers, and Sam McCauley's up there too. They may have reason to object, but if any damage had occured to their property they'd be well covered because of both being National Companies.

Go down the street a bit more, you have Ephesus Kebab. Not a hope in hell of them ever objecting.

Quirkes Dental Surgery wouldn't either I'd say. Very sound people run that place.

There's Barrow Office Supplies there too, who sponser a lot of events in the town. Be very suprised if they opposed it.

Its already been said above that its not the John St traders ( by joey2222)

I think a lot of local business is ruled out at this stage .

And its unlikely to be the butchers , the baker or candlestick makers .........so the options are narrowing .

Well I doubt that the business who objected is going to come out and admit it, because people will boycott their business. But I think if they were throwing out solictor letters, then the public are entitled to know who they are, and the reasoning behind it. The Docks shouldn't been screwed out of €10,000, a festival cancelled, and no one gets an explanation.

As we all know at this point we have been left with no alternative but to cancel the outdoor events for this year’s event.
However due to an outpouring of support from local retailers and general public, we will be running our over 18's event within the Docks Hotel.
Unfortunately our all ages gig with Jedward is cancelled and refunds are being processed for those who bought online.
Those who purchased tickets in the Docks Hotel can be refunded immediately, please note that tickets need to be presented.
Saturday’s line up is as follows, Original Rudeboys, Bipolar Empire and Campaign LK.
Sundays show will be King Kong Company and Smash Hits.
Tickets are available online and are priced at €10.00 + booking fee, please note that these events are for over 18's.

We have received a lot of support from the retailers of New Ross expressing their support for the event and we would like to make it very clear that when we referenced a small section of the business community in our original statement we had not intended to tar all business in the area with the one brush.
The campaign was spear headed by a local business that is not involved in retail in the town.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the retailers that have come forward offering support over the last few days and it proves to us that there is a vibrant and determined business community in New Ross.
This community holds to key to New Ross's future and it is their vision as is ours to build New Ross into a town that can hold its head high and make it a favoured destination for tourists.

We have worked hard to reschedule our events indoors at the Docks Hotel and we urge the public to support this event and can promise some great and memorable gigs.
We would like to thank New Ross Town Council for their continued support for the event and an old saying rings true now more than ever........ "The show must go on"
We look forward to hosting some of Ireland's top acts and we also look forward to next year’s plans.

"We have received a lot of support from the retailers of New Ross expressing their support for the event and we would like to make it very clear that when we referenced a small section of the business community in our original statement we had not intended to tar all business in the area with the one brush.The campaign was spear headed by a local business that is not involved in retail in the town.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the retailers that have come forward offering support over the last few days and it proves to us that there is a vibrant and determined business community in New Ross.
This community holds to key to New Ross's future and it is their vision as is ours to build New Ross into a town that can hold its head high and make it a favoured destination for tourists"

A local business that is not involved in retail in the town? Now the Docks has to do a little more explaining, because I'll tell you one thing, if this is the case, then I'm embarassed for them. Being bullied by a crowd that aren't even retailing in the town. These folks should have no say in anything that happens, and should mind their own business, and quiet simply f*ck off. It would be handy if the festival organizers would be a bit more detailed as to who they are, since supposedly they aren't from the town

Something tells me the Docks could be trying to riddle their way out of a tricky situation from that statement. Maybe they went over budget, and couldn't cope with the cost of organizing such an event. They had a lot of acts, and I doubt Jedward come cheap either.

Since this business is out of town as they say, it really isn't an excuse for not having the festival. No excuse whatsoever. The Docks bottled it, they would have made a loss from the whole thing, and it wasn't worth it. So now it's someone else fault, someone out of town. Nice try, but try again.

Can also confirm that the New Ross Traders association have asked some local Town Councillors to ask the Docks management to name and shame who they believe to be responsible for the “deliberate and consistent attempt from a small section of the New Ross Business community to derail the event and stop it in its tracks”

Can also confirm that the New Ross Traders association have asked some local Town Councillors to ask the Docks management to name and shame who they believe to be responsible for the “deliberate and consistent attempt from a small section of the New Ross Business community to derail the event and stop it in its tracks”

Some people on Facebook are offended, and think us folks on boards (mainly me) are bashing local businesses. Not true at all. If a statement from the Docks makes the front page of the Standard, and says that the festival was derailed by a 'deliberate and sustained campaign by a small sub section of the business community", then of couse people are going to attack the local business's, because everyone would think those were the ones to blame from that statement. It was up to the docks to make sure they had a correct and fully accurate statement before it went to print, and they should have made sure to announce it was a business OUTSIDE of town, which would have made a massive difference to people's immediate reactions. Bottom Line!

"We have received a lot of support from the retailers of New Ross expressing their support for the event and we would like to make it very clear that when we referenced a small section of the business community in our original statement we had not intended to tar all business in the area with the one brush.
The campaign was spear headed by a local business that is not involved in retail in the town.We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the retailers that have come forward offering support over the last few days and it proves to us that there is a vibrant and determined business community in New Ross.This community holds to key to New Ross's future and it is their vision as is ours to build New Ross into a town that can hold its head high and make it a favoured destination for tourists"

A local business that is not involved in retail in the town? Now the Docks has to do a little more explaining, because I'll tell you one thing, if this is the case, then I'm embarassed for them. Being bullied by a crowd that aren't even retailing in the town. These folks should have no say in anything that happens, and should mind their own business, and quiet simply f*ck off. It would be handy if the festival organizers would be a bit more detailed as to who they are, since supposedly they aren't from the town

Something tells me the Docks could be trying to riddle their way out of a tricky situation from that statement. Maybe they went over budget, and couldn't cope with the cost of organizing such an event. They had a lot of acts, and I doubt Jedward come cheap either.

Since this business is out of town as they say, it really isn't an excuse for not having the festival. No excuse whatsoever. The Docks bottled it, they would have made a loss from the whole thing, and it wasn't worth it. So now it's someone else fault, someone out of town. Nice try, but try again.

This was my original thought too. How can a local business objecting close the whole thing down?? If you were that invested you would just plough ahead regardless, so what if a few people had their noses out of joint.

Something tells me the Docks could be trying to riddle their way out of a tricky situation from that statement. Maybe they went over budget, and couldn't cope with the cost of organizing such an event. They had a lot of acts, and I doubt Jedward come cheap either.

+1. Bottom line is The Docks cancelled the festival, not the Guards, or the Health and Safety people, or Fire officers, or The Town Council etc etc. On that basis the alleged reason for cancelling the event makes no sense to me. TBH I never believed it anyway.